The Heart Attitudes: Part 5Sample

Clear Up Relationships

Ephesians 4:31-32, “All bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.”

Colossians 1:21-22, “Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him.”

Matthew 5:23-24, “So if you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

God took the initiative to reconcile us to Himself. He did not wait until we asked or until we proved that we really wanted to be restored to a right relationship with Him.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 5 to take initiative to make things right when we know that someone has something against us. We go to seek restoration when we know someone thinks we have offended them and certainly when we know that we have. We have to be willing to humble ourselves and choose to go to them if we expect our sacrifice to God to be all that we hope and intend it to be. 

How do you clear up relationships? First you pray about what you will say, how you will say it, and the right time and place to say it. Then you take the initiative to make the relationship right. Whether you have offended someone, someone has offended you, or you just are not sure but sense something is wrong with the relationship. You clear up the relationship as soon as possible!